ARTSblog

When I was asked to blog at the NAMP conference, I thought, Great. Easy. No problemo. But now, after nearly a full day here, I’m kind of stumped. It’s 7:30am and I’m sitting in a Starbucks up the street from the hotel and the Providence Convention Center. My problem is that I’d like to avoid writing about the obvious: how good my preconference sponsorship bootcamp was, how important it has already been meeting marketing colleagues from throughout the U.S. (and even Canada), and how much I’m looking forward to today’s program.

Whew, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I can talk about something really important.
Bob Dylan led the bootcamp! Actually, it was Alice Sachs Zimet. But go with me here. Imagine a female version of Bob Dylan: thick, curly hair and thin wise-looking face. Those among you who’ve seen Dylan perform, as I have a gazillion times, will even recognize her self-confident, loosey-goosey movements as those of Dylan on stage. I mean the comparison as a compliment. A big one. Sachs Zimet has a great resume for arts marketing—having worked in the field for many years—but her presentation, her “performance,” was impressive.

She has a strong ability to process information quickly and make connections between comments, and her “stage” presence is kind of mind blowing (though you have to write fast to keep up with her pace). After leaving the bootcamp yesterday, my clean notebook was half-filled with dashed-off scratchings I hope I can read later, and my brain hurt (in a good way) from absorbing so much stuff.

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The National Arts Marketing Project Conference is in full swing in Providence, Rhode Island. We’ve just posted two video interviews from preconference presenters Tim Baker and Steven Roth of The Pricing Institue.

Visit that same Vimeo video channel throughout the next few days to see updated interviews and videos.

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Today brings great news for the arts from Washington. Yesterday, the House and Senate each approved $12.5 million increases for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The FY 2010 Interior Appropriations Bill sets budgets for the two federal grant-making cultural agencies at $167.5 million each. President Obama will sign the bill into law by October 31. With the President’s signature, the NEA will be funded at its highest level in 16 years.

The bill also includes increases for other national arts and culture institutions such as the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Overall, federal cultural funding continues to see incremental, but significant, increases. Read the rest of this entry »

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 5:45 — 5.3MB)

Gladstone Payton, Associate Director of Government Affairs for Americans for the Arts, discusses his recent attendance at the Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit.  This yearly policy summit covers many important topics that affect musicians and other artists and this year included topics such as artist protection, copyright control, intellectual property, and net neutrality.  In addition, Gladstone discusses a meeting with Wayne Kramer of the MC5 and Kramer’s involvement in bringing the Jail Guitar Doors initiative into U.S. prisons.

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The Rappaport Family Foundation is seeking Letters of Interest describing innovative projects or organizations that propose to use art, artistic forms and disciplines, and the artistic and cultural community as a way to engage non-engaged young people in the civic process and in governance. We see this as an opportunity to highlight the role that art and culture can play in the civic engagement of young people. For this pilot cycle, which ends in December 2009, the Rappaport Family Foundation expects to make two to four targeted one-time investments in the range of $20,000-$40,000.

In addition, seed and follow-on grants may be supplemented by peer convenings, opportunities for publication, and informal introductions to the Rappaport Family Foundation’s network of funders and other resources. Deadline to submit the LOI is 6:00 PM Pacific Time on Friday, November 6, 2009. After initial review by a team of experts, selected finalists will be invited to submit full proposals by 6:00 PM Pacific Time on Monday, November 16, 2009. Final investment decisions will be made by December 30, 2009. For more information: http://www.rappaportfamilyfoundation.org/FundingInterests.html

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Over the past week, I have received a ton of feedback about the 20UNDER40/Emerging Leader Salon that took place October 19-23.  I even heard from Emerging Leaders who guiltily told me how much they enjoyed reading the blog during their downtime at work.  It’s okay, I’m not giving names! 

A few people wrote me asking for stats on how many visitors went to the blog.  They are listed below.  Some serious ARTSblog records were broken.  It’s clear there was a huge amount of energy in this conversation. 

Edward Clapp posted a blog about “What’s Next?“  Let’s not allow this great energy to fizzle out yet.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Across the country, bankers painted, insurance agents rocked, and lawyers took to the stage to demonstrate their creativity and passion for the arts.  Take a look at what these organizations are doing, just a sample of the creative partnerships that have been popping up in the arts and business world.

In Nashville, businesses put together bands and performed in the First Annual Music City Corporate Band Challenge. Bankers, insurance salesmen, plumbers, and surgeons took part in this contest which demonstrated the musical talent of the city and promoted Nashville’s status as “Music City USA.” AllState Insurance Company’s The Good Hands Band, Myers Company’s Next of Kin, The Nashville Symphony Association’s Phil & the Harmonics, and Vanderbilt University’s Soul Incision were among the competitors in the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville’s first annual Corporate Band Challenge (which, incidentally, was won by MTA’s band, “Transit’). Read the rest of this entry »

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I want to express my appreciation to my fellow Salon bloggers last week and everyone who has commented—you’ve given me a lot to think about. Before I go, though, I want to make what seems to me like an essential point. We’ve spent a lot of time in this salon so far talking about problems, but solutions have been somewhat elusive. I think part of the reason is contained within a comment I wrote earlier last week on my Generation Y and the Problem of “Entitlement” post but didn’t realize the true significance of until later:

I think the generational shifts are a related, but separate phenomenon from the concentration of power in our field at the top and the frustration that many feel as a result of it, regardless of generation.

There are really two separate issues we’re talking about here, and that’s why our wires keep getting crossed. On the one hand, we have genuine ways in which Generation Y is different from all the generations that came before, particularly with regard to how technology has impacted our communications habits, our work ethic, our social norms, and most importantly, our expectations for ourselves and others. However, this is NOT the same thing as the second issue: the concentration of power in a few individuals that pushes out other voices, both at an organization level and in the wider field. THAT is not new at all, and in fact is probably in a better place now than it ever has been.

Read the rest of this entry »

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I want to congratulate the Emerging Leaders Network, the leaders of the 20UNDER40 project, and other stakeholders who helped make last week’s Emerging Leaders Salon possible. As one of the thousands of visitors reading these Salon posts on ARTSblog last week, I can say I am heartened not only by the keen level of discussion, but also by the great diversity of participants and readers who have commented. I find it striking and encouraging that the arts field always comes together in a united front to make our community stronger, despite the challenges of the economy and changing cultural landscape, as well as strong differing opinions.

These kinds of insightful dialogues between powerhouse voices in the arts field such as Eric Booth and Ramona Baker and vigorous burgeoning leaders such as Edward Clapp and Ruby Classen, make me feel proud of the inherent community the arts bring to us all. I am also humbled at the enormous amount of work so many members, stakeholders, and staff of Americans for the Arts have played over the last ten years to advance new voices in the arts. It was in 1999 at a Winston-Salem Convocation focused on the future of the arts that the Emerging Leader program was born. In just ten short years the Emerging Leader Network has grown from an idea and then a Council to a full-fledged collection of over 1,000 leaders and stakeholders of all levels who are looking to ensure the health of arts leadership. Where our staff once had conference calls with a few emerging leader representatives scattered across the country, our Network now hosts dozens of Creative Conversations from coast to coast—hundreds of emerging leaders deeply engaged in their own communities. Read the rest of this entry »

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It has been truly exciting and invigorating to follow this blogging experience. I have read great ideas (P.A.D.T.H.A.I), felt validated (A Lonely Place to Be), and seen that I have the same basic opinion as others but am there by an entirely different circumstance (Stop Blah, Blah, Blahing…). Indeed this project has shown that emerging leaders have much in common and share many of the same goals, fears, and visions for the future of this field. We are also incredibly diverse and ready for action.

To me one of the most important aspects of professionalism is follow through. Actually get your work done, return emails (sooner rather than 2 weeks later!), remember to attach the file, evaluate the work, use that data to make the next time even better, call the potential partner or new contact you just met, etc etc etc. Of course, this is not always easy as there are only increasing demands on limited time. But one cannot lead if one cannot meet these commitments (and then dream of new projects that require more follow through!)

Read the rest of this entry »

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As this week-long web salon comes to a very successful close, I’m sure a lot of people are amped up about the potential we have to impact conceptual change in the field of the arts and arts education. One big question on folks’ minds may be “this is so exciting—what’s next?” I think this is the wrong question.

We’ve generated a lot of discussion, but exciting dialogue of this variety (perhaps, though, not in this quantity) has been generated before. Rather than ask what we do next, I want to know what we do first.  And by do I mean DO.  Actively do something that puts the gears of change in motion. Something we can see. Something tangible. Something that actually begins to change the purposes, procedures, and principles that influence leadership and practice in the arts. Read the rest of this entry »

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I have spent the better part of this morning and afternoon reading through the comments on this blog salon, and am thrilled at the amount of energy, excitement, and dialogue that this week’s online event has generated. This week alone, we’ve questioned the term “Emerging Leaders”, defined (or attempted to define) what Leadership is, and debated with ourselves whether we have had enough success to really qualify us to lead. On the other side, veteran leaders have told us to stop our whining, complaining, and discussing. We need to start doing our jobs, make ourselves and our communities matter, and start seeing the bigger picture. And – honestly, we need to hear that.

Right now, it seems like we are working in silos. We have silo’d our communities, our art forms (read John Steinmetz’s comment to Edward’s early post), our generations, and in turn – ourselves. The great thing about the 20UNDER40 Project is that it has generated so much discussion and some of these silos are beginning to break down. It’s clear from this weeks’ posts and comments that the arts field needs ALL of the ideas that we ALL bring to the table – the veterans and the emerging leaders. Collectively, we are only as strong as we are individually.

I believe veterans do have the responsibility to mentor and pass down knowledge to the next generation, and not cast generalizations that their younger colleagues are lazy and impatient. I also feel like a great supervisor listens to those around them, and truly values the opinion of their colleagues. On the other side, Generation X and Y should respect the positions of the veteran leaders above them, learn what they can, change what they can, and accept what they can’t change until it’s their turn to jump into the leadership position. This doesn’t mean Generation X and Y can’t be leaders.  (Check out the audio podcast interview I did with Ruby Classen to hear her advice on leading in your organization and community from entry – middle level positions).  It just means that sometimes, you have to wait your turn to affect all the changes. Read the rest of this entry »

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Over the last decade the term “emerging leaders” has become the code phrase to use when convening a meeting, reception or forum for anyone employed in the sector who is under 35 with five or less years of experience in the field. Why emerging leaders vs. new arts professionals? What makes an emerging leader an actual leader?

How do we classify mid-career professionals? Aren’t they leaders?

What about veterans in the sector? Are they all leaders? Or are they a combination of leaders, contributors, honest workers, and even, ‘survivors’?

What is the value of a “label”?  Do we really need or want these labels? Do they bring us together, or do they divide us? Is emerging leaders the right “brand” to define this group of arts professionals? Read the rest of this entry »

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In response to Victoria Saunders’ “A Lonely Place to Be,” my advice as a former first-time executive director is to have an (un)official group of advisors. I began the practice of having my own personal board of advisors when I too realized that being an executive director was a lonely, isolating experience. Individually each of these people were mentors to me on various topics and levels. When I needed a partner to brainstorm wacky program ideas and new technologies, I called Anne Bray at LA Freewaves; for public broadcast questions, I emailed Eddie Wong at the Center for Asian American Media. The list goes on and on. I had an amazing network of support which helped in not feeling so isolated.

Since moving on from my position as executive director, my professional and personal needs have changed and my cabinet has evolved to match these needs.  I currently have a vacant spot that I’m trying to fill, a working mom who can lend advice on work/life balance.  Any suggestions?

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 8:14 — 7.6MB)

Do you hold the title of Associate, Coordinator, or Assistant in your organization? Take a listen to the podcast interview I conducted with Ruby Classen, Grants and Services Coordinator at the Greater Columbus Arts Council, where we discuss the challenges of being a low to middle level employee in the Emerging Leader Community.  Ruby offers some great advice to young emerging leaders who want to learn how to lead from the bottom or middle of their organizations.

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